Impact investors want pension funds to put more cash into venture. These 10 already are

European pension funds manage over €3 trillion in assets. Of that, roughly 0.12% reaches venture capital. That number has become something of a recurring point lately – cited in the Draghi report and repeated by the European Commissioner for Startups Ekaterina Zaharieva.

Meanwhile, in January, climate tech venture capital firm World Fund echoed many others in the impact investing space by calling for more pension funds and insurers to back venture. If they do, it could help close what the firm's founding partner Craig Douglas called a "serious lack of capital" at the scale-up stage.

The good news is that pension allocations to venture in Europe are slowly but surely increasing, according to a recent report by Pensions for Purpose and European Women in VC. And there are some promising examples to look to as well.

Pension funds investing in impact

Icelandic VC Crowberry Capital, which raised a €90m fund in 2023, receives over 60% of its backing from Iceland’s pension funds. In fact, in Iceland pension funds are the primary capital source for the entire national VC market.

In Sweden, the AP6 pension fund is an anchor investor in venture capital firm Creandum, a major backer of energy tech startups which closed a €500m fund in 2024.

A select few pension funds are also investing directly into impact startups. For instance, PGGM Investments, which manages several Dutch pension funds with a combined €255bn in assets, recently led a €83m Series B into “iron fuel” startup RIFT.

"Having someone like us on board helps bridge the gap between a stable, long-term infrastructure investor and the VCs," Tim van den Brule, investor director at PGGM, previously told Impact Loop in an interview. "There is just inherently a bit more capital backing that we can use to do these kinds of things."

Which region is ahead?

In 2024, the UK led in total allocations to VC ($4bn), with the Nordics in second with $400m. France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg allocated a combined $200m, while the DACH region trialled with $130m, according to data from Pensions for Purpose and European Women in VC.

Within those allocations, a significant proportion goes to impact, as pension managers look to deliver not just returns but positive societal impact for their clients.

For this article, we drew on a dataset of 268 pension funds, 1,511 recent startup funding rounds, and hundreds of LP allocations across European impact funds sourced from Dealroom and our own database.

What follows is an account of the 10 pension funds we identified as most actively backing impact – through direct startup investment, LP positions in sustainability-focused funds, or both.

1. APG Asset Management 🇳🇱

Asset manager for ABP, the pension fund for Dutch civil servants and one of the three largest pension funds in the world.

Recent LP investments: APG holds a position in Energy Impact Partners.

Recent direct investments: Four Dutch impact startups between early 2025 and the start of 2026, totalling more than $74m: LeydenJar Technologies (advanced battery cells for EVs), Vivici (precision fermentation protein), Founteyn (sustainable food ingredients), and Rival Foods (alternative protein).

2. Clwyd Pension Fund 🇬🇧

Serves local government workers in north Wales, with roughly £2bn in assets under management.

Recent LP investments: Generation Investment Management (climate equity), Circularity Capital (circular economy), ETF Partners (cleantech venture), Ludgate Environmental Fund, and Carbon Trust.

3. AP1 🇸🇪

One of Sweden's five AP buffer funds, which collectively manage capital to stabilise the national pension system.

Recent LP investments: Sustainable Technologies Fund and Norrsken VC, the venture arm of Norrsken Foundation, founded by Klarna co-founder Niklas Adalberth.

4. Environment Agency Pension Fund 🇬🇧

Pension fund for the civil servants responsible for protecting England's natural environment, giving it an unusually direct mandate for impact-aligned investing.

Recent LP investments: Circularity Capital (circular economy), Generation Investment Management (climate equity), Schroders Greencoat (renewable infrastructure), Glennmont Partners (clean energy), Actis (emerging markets sustainable infrastructure), Bridges Fund Management (impact private equity), and Carbon Trust.

5. PGGM Investments 🇳🇱

Asset manager for PFZW, the Dutch healthcare workers' pension fund.

Recent LP investments: Glennmont Partners, Verdane, and Altor.

Recent direct investments: RIFT, a clean energy manufacturing startup ($73m, March 2026), and Sympower, an energy demand-flexibility platform ($21m, September 2025). Both Dutch companies.

6. Nest Collective Foundation 🇨🇭

Switzerland's only explicitly sustainability-mandated pension fund in this dataset, with ESG principles embedded in its founding charter.

Recent LP investments: ETF Partners (cleantech venture), Generation Investment Management (climate equity), and Glennmont Partners (renewables infrastructure).

7. Merseyside Pension Fund 🇬🇧

Local government pension fund serving Merseyside, with roughly £10bn in assets under management.

Recent LP investments: ETF Partners and Clean Growth Fund (UK cleantech venture), Iona Capital (natural capital), Panda Power Funds and NextEnergy Capital (clean energy infrastructure), Impax Asset Management (listed ESG equities), Mirova (ESG fixed income), and Bridges Fund Management (social impact private equity).

8. French Pension Reserve Fund (FRR) 🇫🇷

State pension reserve fund carrying statutory ESG obligations under French law.

Recent LP investments: SWEN Capital Partners and Mirova.

9. Keva 🇫🇮

Finland's local government pension fund.

Recent LP investments: Glennmont Partners (renewable energy infrastructure).

Recent direct investments: Co-invested $165m in satellite firm ICEYE alongside fellow Finnish pension manager Ilmarinen at the company's Series E in December 2025.

10. Inarcassa 🇮🇹

Pension fund for Italy's architects and engineers.

How they invest: Subject to a 30% combined cap on illiquid assets including PE, VC, and private debt. Within that constraint, the Oltre Impact position makes Inarcassa one of the very few Italian professional pension funds with a genuine impact VC allocation.

Recent LP investments: Oltre Impact (Italian impact venture capital), representing approximately 5.6% of its recorded LP portfolio.

Pictured: Martijn Olthof (APG Asset Management); Pierre-Olivier Billard (FRR) Maaria Kettunen (Keva); Pierre-Olivier Billard (FRR); Sasha Cisar (Nest Collective Foundation); Tim van den Brule (PGGM); Scott Anderson (EAPF).